Final Call II: New Lives
by Tooner
Summary: It has been ten years since the FH incident, however, a new and greater threat is rising. It is up to SeeD once again to rise to the challenge. However, when your enemy commands armies, how do you defeat them? Prepare for a whole new look at the world
1. Warm Front

FINAL CALL II: NEW LIVES  
  
((Yay! It's Part Two! I know, I know I've kept everyone hanging on this one... but I meant to post it about a month ago when I finished, only to see that FF.net had totally collapsed. To make up for it, ALL of the chapters have been posted right away. So, without further ado, I present the action-packed Final Call II. Have fun everyone!))  
  
  
Miles Animus leaped back and threw the Dual Hyperion up to block the oncoming assault. The other blade came flying down and clashed against Miles' weapon. Miles pushed forward, knocking his opponent backwards. The other man managed to keep on his feet, then twirled and swung diagonally upwards. Miles tuck-rolled to his side, then dug his foot into a rock on the ground. Using the force, he propelled himself back to where he had been, as the other gunblade came smashing onto the rock, sending sparks flying everywhere. Miles threw himself up and swiped at his opponent's side. The other man failed to block it. At the last minute, Miles twisted his weapon sideways, and slowed down his assault, gently tapping the man on the side.  
With a grin, he fell back to the ground, "You lose."  
Lee Reist snapped his fingers and put the gunblade away, "Damn, man. How do you do this?"  
Miles wiped the sweat away from his forehead, "It's just experience, you'll get the hang of it."  
For the past few months, Miles had been training Lee in the art of gunblade use. Though Lee's design was rudimentary (a simple Revolver), Lee had shown a bit of a talent for it. He just needed to develop it. Miles still got the feeling Lee would always be better with his fists, but the added skill couldn't hurt him.  
Lee laughed and sat on the rock where his Revolver had previously landed, "Y'know Miles, I think you really shouldn't be talking. I think it was Jas who wound up taking out Seifer."  
Miles grinned wearily, remembering the incident of seven years ago, "Yeah, well, I could've taken him."  
Lee returned with a loud laugh, "Yeah, right!"  
Miles sighed; -he'll never know the truth. I did get that jackass, but… time had another plan.-  
It had been seven years since the Seifer incident, and since Miles had exercised his ability to change the past. No one knew he had that ability though, and he was determined never to use it again. Taking the risk may have worked out, but it had almost gotten him killed.  
Lee, meanwhile, had gotten into a serious relationship with Veronica, though after five years of being 'official' they were still avoiding the big leap. Miles and Jasmine however, had taken the plunge four years ago. Selphie and Irvine married six years ago. Meanwhile, Rinoa and Squall had their first child, Neos Leonheart, shortly after the incident. Neos was six now.  
Jasmine had stepped down from a combat position, and was now an instructor at Garden. Miles did the occasional combat demonstration for students, but still remained an active SeeD member. Squall still passively ran Garden, although Zell had been appointed to run the more specific SeeD matters. Quistis hadn't changed much, she still ran combat missions at 35, although she took a more passive role.  
Miles sighed and nodded, "Alright, let's head to the cafeteria, I'm thirsty as hell."  
Lee nodded, "Fine, but drinks are on you."  
Miles rolled his eyes, "Fine."  
  
***  
As they arrived, there was a crowd gathered around one of the tables. Some were sitting, but a majority were standing. They could hear an older voice emanating from the center of the crowd.  
"So then, when she was turned toward me, I pushed off from my kneel and knocked her into the chamber. We sealed her in and sent her off to space. She never even saw it coming!"  
Miles sighed and headed over to the vending machine, quickly buying two sodas. He had heard this story before. Laguna Loire had shown up more than once at Garden over the past seven years, and every single time, he made it his mission to recount his rise to power in Esthar. Although there were always kids who hadn't heard the story, Miles had heard the story enough to notice every embellishment Laguna made each time.  
He tossed the can to Lee, who sat in a table in the corner, grinning slightly, and then Miles slowly walked over to the crowd. The new kids stepped out of his way, fearing some form of nonexistent authority, as he walked to the table and placed one foot on it.  
"You know something Laguna, that story has more bull in it every time I hear it."  
Laguna grinned and stood up, offering his hand, "Miles, you just don't know a good story."  
"Oh, I do, when I hear one."  
Miles grinned and accepted the shake.  
"How have you been doing kid?"  
The crowd began to dissapate as Miles spoke, "Alright Laguna, I've personally been dying for some sort of action. This crap of sitting around and waiting is getting old, fast."  
Laguna sighed, "When I was a soldier, I would have died to have gotten some peace time."  
"From the stories I hear, you were too busy getting lost to even worry about a war."  
Laguna nodded in agreement, "Yeah, you got me there. Jeez, gimme a break, will ya?"  
Miles shook his head, "No such quarter. How are things in Esthar?"  
"Stable as ever, but we've got our share of worries now that Galbadia seems to be starting a reunion."  
"Yeah well, we're pissed about that one, too. The instability kept the cash coming."  
"Don't worry, there will ALWAYS be conflict, that's a lesson I've learned."  
Miles raised the can, "I'll agree there, like it or not."  
  
***  
  
Jasmine smiled lightly at her desk, watching the students work at the assignment she had given them. Her class, "Advanced Combat Tactics" was filled with those who fancied themselves the future strategists of Garden. Many she believed would excel, but others were simply grunts trying to make themselves look better. The class couldn't hurt, but she wished they would just take a class they could handle better. The bell rang, and the students began to file out. In the rush of people by her desk, an apple was gently placed down. She looked among the crowd, but failed to find a guilty face. As they all exited, she shrugged and wiped the apple against her shirt, brushing back a strand of her black hair as she raised it up to her mouth.  
Miles walked in as she took a bite, and stared intently for a moment, "So… what kid should I kill?"  
She grinned wildly and swallowed the bite of apple, "Oh, Miles, none of them are stupid enough to get you pissed off."  
He grinned and gave her a kiss, "You want something to eat?"  
She shook her head, "Nah, I got papers to grade right now. Plus, last I heard, Laguna was recounting another one of his stories."  
Miles laughed, "He's gone now, had to go see Squall or something. Y'know, since you're not hungry," Miles raised an eyebrow, and looked around the room, "I've always had this little fantasy involving a classroom, a teacher, and a student…"  
She laughed, "Miles!"  
He grabbed her and placed her down on the desk, lightly kissing her neck. She coughed, "Miles?"  
"Yes?"  
"Have you ever thought about being a father?"  
Miles looked into her eyes, then collapsed to the ground.  
  
***  
  
Laguna sighed and plopped into a chair opposite Squall, "So what's the big problem?"  
Squall grinned, "Why do you assume that there is a problem?"  
"Well, you never call me out, usually I'm the one requesting YOU."  
Squall nodded, "Well, there isn't a problem, but I have a favor to ask of you."  
"A favor?"  
"Would you mind watching Neos for a few weeks?"  
"Weeks?"  
"Yeah, I have to go somewhere, and it could take a while."  
"So, can't Rinoa watch him?"  
"No, she's coming with me."  
"I'm sure there are plenty of people in Garden…"  
Squall raised an eyebrow, "What, don't you want to see your own grandson?"  
Laguna laughed, "Of course! But I don't know how much I'd see the kid. With the Galbadia situation and all, Neos would probably be hanging around under guard in the palace all day."  
"Good."  
"What?"  
"Look, he can't stay here, the safer the better."  
"I'd imagine a whole lot of SeeDs can protect the kid."  
"It's not good enough. I need an army."  
Laguna leaned onto the desk, "What are you doing, Squall?"  
"I can't say, but if something goes wrong, Neos needs to be well away from me and Garden."  
Laguna leaned back, "I don't like this at all Squall."  
"Neither do I, but if it works, none of us will have to worry."  
"About what?"  
"I can't say."  
"Why are you hiding this from me?"  
"I can't trust anyone. Look, can you do this?"  
Laguna sighed, "Yeah. Yeah, why not? We'll have fun, I'll show the kid the city, we'll go for a cruise in the Ragnorak or something."  
Squall nodded, "Good. Thank you."  
  
***  
  
  
When Miles awoke, he was in the infirmary, with Dr. Kadowaki looking over him like a hawk. She was in her fifties now, and despite age, was still just as good as she was seventeen years ago.  
He groaned and rubbed his head, "What happened?"  
"You fainted."  
"Why?"  
Another voice answered, "I don't know, maybe a lack of responsibility?"  
Jasmine stepped into the room, a slight grin on her face, but it wasn't a happy one. He sighed, and Dr. Kadowaki walked out of the room. Jasmine sat down, "Miles, why did you faint?"  
He grinned, "Well… that was a curveball you threw at me, y'know?"  
She sighed, "I know, I know, but…"  
"You want to have a kid."  
She got a gleam in her eye and grinned widely, "Not just a kid, but a few kids! A family, c'mon Miles, don't you want to raise a family?"  
"I'm just not sure." She frowned, and he caught himself, "Now wait one minute, that's not to say I don't want to. What I mean is that… are we ready?"  
"I'm 24, and you're 25, we're not getting any younger."  
"Yeah, but we're still young. I guess, part of me just isn't ready to settle down quite yet."  
She sighed, "I know."  
"Look, it's definitely something I want, but… with my career right now… do I want to have a kid who would live in constant fear of having his father just be gone one day, never to return?"  
"Miles, don't you have some good memories of being a kid? Don't you want to bring that joy into the world?"  
Miles laid his head back against the pillow, "I don't have many good memories."  
Jasmine slowly walked over to him and grasped his arm gently, "You never did talk about your childhood. Where did you grow up?"  
He sighed, "Dollet."  
"What were your parents like?"  
He grimaced, "I'd rather not talk about that, alright?"  
She sighed, "I just thought you'd want to share."  
"Well, I don't, sorry."  
She sighed again, "Sleep, Miles. You need it."  
  
***  
  
-The truth is, I was born in Deling City. My real parents, well, I didn't see too much of them. My mother died when I was two, and my dad was always away on business. My sister and I were raised by a babysitter. One day, my dad went off, and never came back. I found out weeks later that he had died in train crash. I was three. I have no memories of Deling City except for the invasion ten years ago. My relatives lived in Dollet, and we were moved there. That was about the time of the Galbadian invasion. I guess I was around eight when that happened. I was hiding in one building, but my sister had been separated from me, and was in another. When that robotic spider flew by, the building she was in collapsed, and she died. My uncle had already been killed fighting in the battle. All that was left was my Aunt and I. I left Dollet at 13, and joined as a student in Balamb Garden. I have no good memories of childhood. I don't want to have a child grow up in a situation like that. What would happen if I died, and left them alone? I just couldn't do that-  
  
***  
  
As the train left the station, Neos mashed his face against the window, watching his parents wave and slowly fade away from his view. With a sigh, he plopped down into his seat and began kicking his feet back and forth. Across from him, Laguna Loire watched with a detached interest. The child got up again, and began a frustrated pacing across the train. Laguna finally laughed, "What's wrong kid?"  
Neos turned, "I don't want to go."  
"What, you don't want to spend some time with your grandfather?"  
Neos relaxed, and sat next to his grandfather, "Last time, I didn't see you a lot."  
Laguna sighed, "Last time I was pretty busy, you know. I am President."  
"Yeah, does that mean you have to ignore me?"  
"Ouch. Look, I'm sorry about before, but I promise, this time, we'll have fun. We're gonna go for a bit of a joyride on the Ragnorak! That sound like fun?"  
The six-year-old's eyes lit up, "Yeah!"  
"Alright, just you and me, we'll go check out all the cool stuff in Esthar. The Memorial, and Lunar Base…"  
"Can we see the where all the monsters landed?"  
"Eh… that area still isn't very safe, but we'll fly by it, alright?"  
There was a slight bit of disappointment in the child's voice, but he still was excited, "Alright!"  
  
((Next Chapter: A... man-to-man, Laguna and grandson, Zell learns, and the Owls)) 


	2. Cold Front

Without Squall around, Zell was in temporary command of Garden. He sighed at the desk, and nervously tapped his fingers against it, anxiously wondering what to do. He was absolutely clueless, and no one was attempting to give him much help.  
Rocking back and forth in the chair, he attempted to think about what he had seen Squall do in this position.  
Mainly stand around. Damn!  
It all looked so easy. The door opened up, and he looked at it, secretly praying for an angel to come in with inspiration.  
Xu walked in, and threw a small stack of papers on his desk, "Okay, Zell, here's the deal. Those are the latest test results--"  
Zell interrupted, "What do I do with these?"  
She stared blankly at him, and then laughed, "Good one, Zell. With the expression on your face, I thought you were serious!"  
He scratched his head and gaped in confusion at the seemingly random numbers on the papers, "No, really. What?"  
She sighed, "Look them over!"  
"Oh. Anything else?"  
"No, the teachers handle the rest."  
"Oh-h-h-h…."  
"Now, the newest class comes in two days. We're parking near Balamb for their arrival. You have your speech ready, right?"  
Zell fell out of the chair, "A what?"  
"A speech, Zell. You know, every time a class comes in, the Headmaster says something to them…?"  
Zell's jaw dropped, "Xu, I've got an idea. You know a lot about this whole 'running Garden' thing. Me? I'm just the SeeD guy. How 'bout you do this?"  
She grinned wildly, "I told Squall you'd fold in a day, and he gave you a week."  
He sunk, "You two bet on me?"  
"Well, we had a small pool set up…"  
He sighed and walked out of the office.   
  
****  
  
Lee and Miles collapsed against the training center wall together. After another rigorous gunblade workout, neither of them much felt like doing anything. Lee panted and caught his breath, then spoke.  
"Hey, Miles, so… um… what's up with you?"  
Miles' face distorted in confusion as he looked at Lee, "What?"  
"I mean, why don't you wanna have a kid, man?"  
"What are you talking about?"  
"Man, Jas told me all about it."  
Miles sighed and bashed his head against the wall, "Look, it's not a big thing, alright?"  
Lee bobbed his head around, before proceeding nervously, "Look, man, if… y'know… you got… troubles… there are… operations that can…"  
Miles threw his hands up, "THAT'S NOT IT!"  
"Oh. Then what?"  
"Man, I dunno. Why haven't you married Veronica yet?"  
"I just…" Lee froze, unable to think of a reason, "I see what you mean."  
"Yeah… it's a big step, man. I mean, I want to… but I'm not sure if I'm ready right now."  
"Oh."  
"Now will you just shut up about the whole thing?"  
Lee laughed.  
  
***  
  
"What's that over there?"  
Laguna looked over to the port side of the Ragnorak, where Neos was pointing. He squinted, "That… is the old Lunatic Pandora lab."  
"And what happened there?"  
"Lotsa stuff, kiddo. Most of it you shouldn't know about."  
The child frowned and rose up six fingers, "But I'm six years old now!"  
"Yeah, but most of the stuff scares me even today, and I happen to be over 50 years old."  
The child laughed, "You're not THAT old, grandpa!"  
"I am too, your grandfather is a very old man!" Laguna began to limp and hunch his back over, which merited a laugh from the child. "C'mon kiddo, let's go back to Esthar, I'll take you around the mall, alright?"  
Neos nodded.  
  
***  
  
Rinoa glanced over her shoulder nervously. Something about this still didn't seem right, and she wasn't sure why. Squall walked up the steps quickly and knocked on the door. A moment passed, then a series of locks were heard opening, and the door creaked open slightly.  
"Who is it?"  
Squall recognized the figure in the door, but obviously, Zone didn't recognize him.  
"Zone, buddy, you don't know me?"  
"No, now go away."  
Zone moved to close the door, but Squall shoved his foot in between the door and the frame, "Are you sure that you don't know me?"  
"Sir, I'm telling you, go away now."  
"How about this then? Seventeen years ago, you put together a good plan to kidnap President Deling, followed up by a half-assed plan to transmit Timber's independence. You then purchased five train tickets, and wound up forfeiting one to Quistis Trepe. For both of those previous operations, you had assistance from SeeD. You have a consistent series of stomach problems-conveniently when trouble arises. To top it all off, how about this?" Squall put one hand on his hip, and posed, "Fine, but this is the last time for this sort of thing."  
Zone's jaw dropped, "Squall?"  
"Hey Zone, what's up?"  
The door flew open, "Squall, what are you doing here? Is Rinoa here?"  
Rinoa smiled and waved, "Hi, Zone."  
"So why are you two here?"  
Squall looked at Rinoa, who looked at Zone, "Galbadia is reforming, Zone. Timber's independence is in trouble if that happens."  
Zone scratched his head.  
"Get the old crew together." A grin spread across her face, "The Forest Owls are back."  
  
((Next Chapter: A T-Rexaur, Laguna's cabinet, and the beginning)) 


	3. The Storm Begins

The T-Rexaur roared. The sound shook the ground and nearly burst Miles' eardrums. Taking in a deep breath, Miles unsheathed his Dual Hyperion, then gave his own battle cry, amazingly weak compared to that of the monster, but comparable nicely to humans.  
He dragged the blade along the ground, swinging in an upward ark aimed right for the creature's underbelly. As he approached, the monster swung his head downards, jaws open, attempted to simply pluck Miles and make him a tasty meal.  
-Not today you prehistoric bitch.-  
Miles tuck rolled right, throwing himself in the direction of the Rexaur's foot. At the last minute, he shoved his hands into the ground hard, propelling himself upwards, and he continued the roll, allowing the momentum to throw him over the foot and onto the ground beside the monster. He pushed himself up, and then charged again at the flank. The Rexaur tried to turn, but was too late. Miles sheathed the gunblade, and then yanked out two small combat daggers. He grabbed onto the Rexaur's leg, then dug the first dagger into the flesh, and began to use it as a support. He stabbed the monster higher this time, and slowly, through a series of pulls and stabs, used the knives to carry himself up the creature. Finally, when he was on its backside, the Rexaur roared and turned in frantic circles, trying to throw Miles off. Miles stuck to it though, and made his way to the Rexaur's neck. Upon getting at its base, Miles yanked out the gunblade again, and raised it above his head. He thrust it down, and stabbed the monster directly in the back of the neck. The Rexaur didn't die though, and Miles pulled the gunblade's trigger once, twice, three times, and the Rexaur gave a final, ear-piercing roar, before beginning to collapse. Miles pulled out the gunblade, and then watched for his moment. When the body was about 10 feet from hitting ground, he leaped off, and rolled off safely to the side. The Rexaur landed, and sent a shockwave throughout the training center.  
There was a dead silence, then the crowd burst into applause. Someone tossed him a towel, and he wiped his brow, then raised his voice above the noise, "THAT, everyone, is how you take out a T-Rexaur."  
One of the younger students spoke out, "What if we don't have a gunblade?"  
"Well, most of you don't, I know, but I can tell you right here that pumping the thing full of hot lead will have the same effect."  
Another came out, "What if we can't climb it?"  
"The underbelly is just as weak as the neck. Getting underneath a T-Rexaur is bad news for the monster. Now, if you're one of those people who use your fists or nunchakus, or a weapon besides a gun or gunblade, well… I recommend you just run for it. Except for whips… if you can get up top, you can strangle it. Any other questions?"  
There were none, "Great, thanks for watching everyone."  
Miles laid back against a large rock, catching his breath with a small grin. Just as he began to regain himself, the loudspeaker blared to life, "Miles, report to the bridge, ASAP."  
  
***  
  
President Laguna Loire backed into his office grinning, still reveling in the moment with his grandson. He shut the door and turned around, and the grin quickly faded.  
His cabinet was fully assembled, and none of them were very happy. He scratched his head and looked around, "What's up everyone?"  
The Minister of Defense, a young man with an excellent public relations ability, came forward, "Sir, five hours ago, Alexian Harket declared Galbadia to be reunited, and himself to be the President.  
The Secretary of State came forward next, throwing a folder onto the desk, "Then, the man ordered attacks on Dollet, Timber, Winhill, and any other area that was formerly under Galbadian control. Winhill and Timber fell quickly, and Dollet is currently being held off by SeeD."  
Laguna frowned and sat down, "Get reinforcements to help SeeD now."  
"What about Winhill and Timber?"  
"First things first. Let's help what we can."  
"There is one other matter, sir."  
"That is?"  
"We received a message from Harket two hours ago."  
An aide flipped on the television set, and Harket appeared. He was a fit, young man, easily thirty years younger than Laguna, and his face gave a look of confidence. Disturbing confidence. With a grin and a brush back of his thick, blonde hair, he stared into the screen and spoke, "Loire. You know what I want. Let us not waste any time on it. I will give you two days to comply. After that… well…"  
Harket laughed, and the screen went black. A few moments passed as Laguna scratched his head in confusion. Finally, he spoke meekly, "What the hell was he talking about?"  
No one could answer him, "We were hoping you could tell us."  
  
***  
  
Miles threw himself down the stairwell, tucking and rolling as he smashed into the ground, now bruised and cut, but still better off, as the top floor exploded brightly, sending glass out of the windows, and causing the structure to weaken.  
Miles ripped out his Dual Hyperion and dashed into the street, promptly stabbing a soldier. With a quick spin, he smashed another's face with the flat end of the blade, knocking the soldier out entirely.  
His radio blared to life, "Miles, order has been restored!"  
He nodded, "Okay, regroup at the camp, and wait for me."  
Miles had been put in charge of this operation. The battle for Dollet had been nothing but a series of advances, followed by a series of retreats for both sides. They had just repelled Galbadia from the City Square, now they would have to regroup and take advantage of Galbadia's temporary weak position. He sighed and ran to the fountain.  
  
***  
  
Miles watched as SeeDs ran back and forth across the small camp, tending to injuries, and delivering messages. Lee stepped up to him, a stack of papers in his hands.  
"Here are the reports. We've got twenty wounded, five are serious."  
"Casualties?"  
"Three."  
"That's three too many. Recruits?"  
"Both recruit squads are fine."  
"Okay, get groups A, C and D. Tell them to secure the foot of the mountain."  
"A group was wiped out."  
"Okay, fine, get C, D and E. Get two sniper teams to cover them. They have one hour to make it happen."  
A messenger came dashing up to them from the direction of the docks, screaming and panting, "Soldiers! At the docks!"  
"Shit!" Miles suppressed a panic-instinct, "B group, F group! Follow me!"  
  
***  
  
When Miles got to the dock, his gunblade drawn, he didn't see the dark-blue uniforms of Galbadia. He saw the amazingly flashy uniforms of Esthar. Putting the gunblade away, he approached the man who appeared to be in the lead.  
Extending his hand, he cautiously spoke, "I'm Miles Animus. You are?"  
The older man returned the gesture, "Alan Rickspan, General of the Galbadian Army."  
"Laguna sent you?"  
"The President gave us orders to help out in any way we could."  
"Great, your guys can help us secure a foothold or two."  
Miles wrapped his arm around the General's shoulders and led him towards the camp, "We have a lot to talk about, Alan."  
  
***  
  
Galbadia swept out the mountain region quickly and efficiently, and then, with SeeDs help, drove Galbadia out of Dollet two days later. Afterwards, most of the troops were stationed across the town, keeping the peace, while SeeD prepared for withdrawl.  
Alan and Miles were inside one of Dollet's many now-abandoned buildings. Miles walked out of the bathroom, dabbing his face with a washcloth, as Alan, sitting across the room in a couch, began to speak.  
"So, Mr. Animus, about our orders…"  
"Jeez man, first off, it's Miles. Second off, your orders are complete, right?"  
"Not exactly. I was also asked to contact you, and deliver this message to you."  
Miles accepted the letter than Alan held out, and gave a quick nod. Alan gave a gracious bow, and then exited the room.  
Miles sat on the couch, his wet clothes soaking the furniture, and began to read the letter.  
  
Miles-  
I sincerely hope you receive this letter. I have no doubt that you would be alive, but Rickspan is a bit too stiff for my tastes. He gets the job done though, right?  
Okay, to the point. As you can no doubt tell, the world is in trouble. Galbadia is bad news. We should have done something to stop this. On the next few papers are reports that you should read. Meanwhile, Winhill and Timber have both fallen to Galbadia. I'm sure you've handled Dollet. Don't worry, Esthar will keep an eye on the place.  
Anyway, I want to commission SeeD for a job. I know, I should probably get my army to do this one, but I want it silent. I want you to evacuate our agents from Winhill. Just get to Winhill, contact our agents (if they're alive), and do whatever it takes.  
I know you don't have authority, so get it to whoever does. This is important. Just get to Winhill, and get them out!  
Oh yeah, Neos is fine, in case you were wondering.  
-Laguna Loire  
  
Miles sighed; he'd give the stuff to Xu. He curiously looked at the attached papers. There were two quick reports.  
  
WINHILL FINAL REPORT  
  
CONTACT LOST WITH AGENTS AT WINHILL. ASSUME WORST CASE SCENARIO. WINHILL HAS OFFICIALLY BEEN TAKEN BY GALBADIA. ALL INFILTRATION EFFORTS HAVE FAILED. WE ARE UNABLE TO ESTIMATE CASUALTY COUNTS. GALBADIA REFUSES TO RELEASE. ESTIMATED FORCE WITHIN WINHILL IS ABOUT 200.  
  
TIMBER FINAL REPORT  
  
TIMBER FELL SHORTLY. RESISTANCE MOVEMENTS WITHIN TOWN WERE UNABLE TO MOBILIZE. LACK OF ANY OFFICIAL MILITARY PRESENCE CAUSED DOWNFALL. GALBADIA REPORTS NO CASUALTIES, BUT REPORTS ARE MOST LIKELY EDITED. GALBADIA ALSO REPORTS NUMEROUS CAPTIVES. ESTIMATED FORCE OCCUPYING TIMBER IS ABOUT 400.  
  
With another sigh, Miles stuffed the papers back into the envelope, and exited the room.  
  
((Next Chapter: Decision, and Laguna goes commando.)) 


	4. Wind

Xu stared at the papers for a few minutes, all the while Zell and Miles making various nervous twitches. Miles yawned slowly, and Zell reached forward and began to play with one of the various executive toys on the desk.  
The toy broke in his hand, and Zell quickly made a repair attempt. Placing the small gold bar on top of the other at a perpendicular angle, he grinned, as it remained steady, then collapsed again.  
Miles shook his head as Zell growled under his breath and shoved both pieces away from himself. Xu looked up again, took a quick glance at the broken doohickey, then at Zell, then at Miles, who shrugged.  
She cleared her throat, "This isn't exactly normal. Extraction of two people?"  
Miles nodded, "They probably have some form of vital information."  
"Yes, but why not just retake the city?"  
"The reason may be in that information."  
"It still sounds half-assed, but can you do it?"  
There was a pause as Xu looked at Zell, who continued to stare angrily at the toy. She discreetly coughed. Nothing. Finally, she slammed her fist on the table.  
Zell jumped, "Yeah?"  
"I said, can we do it?"  
"Do what?"  
"The extraction!"  
"Oh yeah, not too hard. Just a matter of finding them. I wouldn't devote more than three people to this."  
"Good, because we're devoting one."  
"Great, who?"  
There was an awkward silence as Xu continued to glare at Zell. After a moment, he got the idea.  
"Damn it."  
Xu allowed a slight grin, "Miles, do me a favor will you? Go to the bridge and tell Nida to transmit a confirmation to President Loire. Zell and I are going to discuss the operation."  
Miles gave a quick salute, and then retreated to the bridge. The small elevator bought him up, and Nida stood at the helm. Miles gave him a tap on the shoulder.  
"What's up, Miles?"  
"Xu says to send a confirmation to Laguna."  
Nida nodded and flipped a few switches. The radio blared to life, and Laguna's voice came on, "President Loire."  
"President Loire, it's Nida. Xu says we'll do it."  
"Great, anything else?"  
Nida answered in the negative, and moved to flip off the radio, but Miles stopped him, a question forming in his head.  
"Laguna, it's Miles. What's going on?"  
"What do you mean?"  
"Why are you having a whole operation in Winhill just to get two agents out?"  
"Because the information they have is invaluable."  
"Why not just retake the city?"  
"That's the technical thing. There's something about Harket I can't tell you. Needless to say we'll avoid a lot of bloodshed by not taking the city yet."  
"Laguna. Look, I know you're not telling us something here. Something very important."  
"I can't tell you anything other than that, alright?"  
Miles threw his arms up, "Alright!"  
Suddenly, the bridge was filled with the sound of machine gun fire and sounds of death. Miles instinctively ducked down, but realized the sound wasn't coming from Garden.  
It was coming from the radio.  
"LAGUNA!"  
Laguna came back, breathless, "No time! Go! Complete the mission!"  
Then silence.  
Miles smashed his feet onto the elevator, and came down into the main 3rd floor area. He dashed to Xu and Zell, still working out details.  
"We've got a problem."  
  
***  
  
Laguna switched off the radio and reached to his back wall. He quickly entered in a key code on a hidden panel, and a small case appeared on his desk. The case opened up, and his machine gun was extended out. He grabbed it, and then walked over to the doorway. He quietly opened the door a crack, and peered outside. There were armed men, dressed in grey, metallic outfits, pointing guns at some unknown target, and they were talking about him.  
One asked the hostage, "Where's Laguna?"  
Another interrupted, "Probably cowering in his office, I'll get him."  
The man approached the door, and Laguna threw his head back, quickly considering his options. His time ran short, as the man came through the door and walked…  
…right past him.  
Laguna grinned and slowly, silently shut the door, then stepped up behind the man, who, upon seeing an empty office, spun around, and quickly met the end of Laguna's gun. The soldier collapsed the ground with a dull thud, and Laguna suddenly got an idea.  
  
***  
  
Slowly, Laguna stepped out of his office quivering, his face conveying fear in every possible way. The two other soldiers in the hall looked at him.  
He got down to his knees, "The guy said that he needed both of you."  
They both traded a look to each other, and Laguna instantly realized they were rookies. They BOTH walked into the office, not even bothering to look again at Laguna, who made a quiet signal to the others, then pulled the downed soldier's pistol out of his waistband. He stood, turned, and followed both into the office.  
They soldiers took one look at the downed soldier, and then spun around in surprise. Laguna stared at them for a split second, then promptly shot both in the kneecaps. As they squirmed on the ground, he stepped to each, and threw away their weapons, then ripped off their masks.  
"Who are you? What do you want?"  
One groaned, "You jackass!"  
"Shut up! Answer me!"  
Neither moved, and Laguna put the pistol to one's head, "Answer me, now!"  
The man backed down, "Alright! We're from Galbadia! Harket's special forces! We were sent to kill you and take the other one!"  
Laguna feathered the trigger, "who's the other one? WHO?"  
"The kid! The damned kid! Neal or something…"  
The man almost cried, and Laguna cursed, -Neos!-  
He left the two there, grabbed whatever ammo he could, and took his machine gun from the rack again. As he moved to the door, he heard one talking into a radio, requesting backup. Laguna spun around, "You son-of-a…"  
He never finished the sentence. The door flew open and three soldiers burst in, guns blazing. Laguna threw himself to the ground and spun around, firing his gun at the soldiers. Two went down, and the other aimed for Laguna. Laguna pulled the trigger. Nothing happened. He cursed and threw the gun at the soldier, who momentarily flinched. Just enough time for Laguna to throw himself up and charge into the soldier. Both fell to the ground, and Laguna wrestled the man's gun away, then fired off two shots into his opponent's chest. After Re-loading his gun, he grabbed two holsters and put a pistol into each. After fully re-arming and re-loading, Laguna was good to go, and he knew what he needed to do.  
He threw open the doors, machine gun at the ready, and even at the age of 61, Laguna was fit, and looked every bit the action hero. He dashed down the hall and burst into the main hallway, gun at the ready. He was greeted with a blade to his throat, and four armed soldiers, so he quickly halted. There was a moment where no one moved, then, the blade flicked away from his neck as quickly as it had arrived there.  
Laguna heard someone speak to him, and recognized it as Kiros, "Jeez Laguna, don't DO that!"  
"Sorry, I was in a rush."  
"Yeah, well, we were coming to get you out."  
"No worries, I'm fine, now ah… where's Neos?"  
"Neos? He's in the guest room, sleeping, we didn't want to alarm him. Why?"  
Laguna felt his leg begin to cramp up, "They're after him."  
Kiros motioned to the others to get to Neos' room, then halted Laguna from doing so.  
"Are you alright Laguna?"  
"I'm fine, you know, you shouldn't be running around with the boys anymore."  
"Laguna, I'm just a commander at heart."  
"You're also 58."  
"So, I'm a commander with risk of a heart attack. Laguna," Kiros looked at the weapons array Laguna was wearing, "you're too old for this shit."  
"Yeah, I know, but we don't have time for it."  
Kiros sighed as Laguna began a slightly limped walk toward Neos' room.  
  
***  
  
Luckily enough, Neos was secured well before more soldiers could show up for him. Laguna allowed himself a sigh of relief as his grandson gave him a hug. However, their moment was interrupted. A guard ran into the room.  
"President Loire, come quickly!"  
Laguna walked through the hall, and looked outside the window. Galbadian soldiers now walked through the streets of Esthar, and they were everywhere the eye could see. It was an outright takeover.  
"Okay," Laguna said, recovering himself, "Call back every army we have, get them all together, liberate Esthar."  
Two of his elite bodyguard forces came up behind him, "Sir, we have to evacuate you and the General."  
Laguna nodded, "and Neos."  
"Negative, Sir. There is only room on the transport for two people."  
Laguna tried to maintain his cool, "Then give my seat up."  
"Sir, anyone left in this palace will most likely die!"  
Laguna whirled around and began to yell, "I DON'T GIVE A DAMN! MY GRANDSON COMES FIRST, GOT IT?"  
He noticed he was making a scene in front of everyone, including Neos.  
The bodyguard continued, "Regulations state that only you and Kiros are to be evacuated in the Presidential Evacuation Craft. The others will wait for the other evacuation craft to arrive."  
Laguna grabbed the man by the arm and whispered, "The others will most likely die."  
The man spoke loudly still, "Yes, sir. The others will probably die, but we are prepared."  
Neos' face went pale, "Am I gonna die?"  
Laguna cursed, "Look, I don't care about regulations already, that kid WILL live. I'm forfeiting my seat to him."  
Another voice came out, "Don't."  
Laguna looked at the man who had spoken it, Kiros.  
"I'll give my seat up."  
"Kiros, you'll die."  
"Yeah, maybe, but you know, I've had fun."  
Laguna stared at his friend, "No. I'm giving my seat."  
"Look, Laguna. You had your turn at being stubborn, now its mine. GO!"  
Laguna struggled with the decision, "No…"  
Kiros shook his head, "Alright Laguna, that's it."  
Kiros threw a punch, which connected with Laguna's face, and the President collapsed to the ground. Kiros turned to the soldiers, "Get him and Neos to the evac ship, now."  
  
***  
  
Laguna came to as the ship lifted off and flew away from the palace, towards Balamb, where an agreement had been reached for such a situation. He pressed his hands to the window, and watched Esthar fade away.  
  
((Next Chapter: Zell's mission, and Kiros' fate.)) 


	5. Rain

Zell stood up on a hilltop, and took one look through his binoculars at the blockade on the city. One man could not get in there, let alone quietly. He needed a way to get in there without raising alarms, but with a tank and at least ten guards at the entrance alone, that wasn't looking easy.  
-Of course, easy is for wimps.-  
Zell put the binoculars away, and began waving frantically to the guards, "Help! HELP!"  
Sure enough, the guards turned and began to discuss this event. One nodded, and began walking towards him. Zell faked falling down the hill, while he actually just jumped back a few feet to maintain cover.  
The soldier came up and over the hill, and took a look at Zell. They were out of view of the others now.  
"What's the problem?"  
Zell grinned, "Will you please be unconscious?"  
Zell threw a jab right into the man's face.  
  
***  
  
Corporal Terrence Owen watched as the soldier returned, and approached him, "What was the problem?"  
"Uh… pipe burst, could have been a problem. I patched it up."  
"Do they need a repair crew?"  
"No! I mean, no, it'll hold."  
"Alright then, your shift is up, head back into the town."  
The soldier nodded, and walked into Winhill.  
Wasn't he taller?  
  
***  
  
Zell entered the city, his mind racing a mile a minute.  
-Now, intelligence says that the hostages are probably in the bar. The agents are probably being held as hostages, so I have to go there first.-  
He encountered no resistance entering the building; his outfit was enough to keep soldiers at bay. The bar had been set up as a makeshift military office, soldiers littered the area, but none took much notice of them as they proceeded through the building. His smile hidden by the helmet, he marched up to man in the commanding officer's desk, and pulled out the small photo he had been given of the agents.  
"I'm looking for these two. The captain told me to transport them."  
The officer nervously nodded and pointed towards the staircase. Zell nodded thanks, and walked up the stairs, where the two were completely alone. They both stepped back a bit at the sight of Zell.  
He ripped off the mask, "Take it easy, I'm here to rescue you. Zell Dincht, from SeeD. Laguna sent me."  
They both breathed a sigh of relief, and the one Zell recognized as Ton Feris stepped up, "Mr. Dincht, I think I can say for both of us that we appreciate the rescue."  
"Yeah, yeah. Appreciate it when we get out of here, aight?"  
They both nodded, and Zell slipped the mask back on, then stepped behind them, "Now, hands up, act like I'm escorting the hell out of you."  
They both smiled lightly, then turned serious again as they descended the stairs. As they came to the foot of the stairwell, an older man stepped up.  
"Just one minute, where are you going?"  
Zell was taken back, "I'm transporting the prisoners, as per the captains orders, the commander gave me clearance…"  
"I'm the commander! That man was just filling in for a moment."  
Shit.  
"Don't worry about it, let me just see the notice of transport."  
Zell nodded, "I left it right…" He flung his fist into the commander's face, "HERE!"  
The other soldiers quickly began to respond with gunfire, and Zell shoved the agents out into the street, where he saw half a dozen more soldiers staring blankly at him. He pointed to the bar, "We've got a mutiny! We need backup!"  
The soldiers nodded and ran into the bar, Zell took the moment and ran like all hell to the bridge, as the soldiers exited the bar again, suddenly aware of what was going on. Gunfire came blazing over the landscape, and the ground began to vibrate as a tank rolled onto the bridge.  
The trio stopped short, and Zell cursed, "Okay, PLAN B!"  
"What's plan B?"  
"Thinking up Plan C!"  
They pivoted and ran for a thin alleyway between homes, just as the tank opened fire. Finding the alley blocked off by more soldiers, they ducked into the nearest door. Zell was confronted with a dark room, and quickly flicked a light switch.  
He was in a garage. Car, workbench, heavy objects, everything. He quickly pointed out the workbench, "Help me move this!"  
They shoved the bench in front of the door, blocking entrance temporarily. Zell shook his head, "The tank'll fire on this place any second. We need a way out!"  
The other agent, whom Zell had been told was Alex Scott, pointed out the car, "What about this?"  
"Can ya hotwire it?"  
"Yeah!"  
"Then do it!"  
Alex jumped into the drivers seat, and Zell sat in the passenger side. Ton sat in the back quickly, as Alex finished connecting the wires, and the car came to life.  
"Okay, Alex, bust through!"  
Alex grinned and hit the gas, sending the car right through the flimsy garage door. The tank fired again, and the building exploded behind them, as the car sped off next to the bridge. With a bit more acceleration, the car flew over the small waterway, and landed safely on the other side.  
Zell gasped, "Great, now, the toughest part."  
Up ahead was the blockade, and although the soldiers were gone, they had a nice set of tack strips for such an occasion. Adding to the mess was a car now chasing behind them.  
"You'll have to get off the road, Alex!"  
Alex took a look behind them, at the pursuing car, "NO!"  
"What are you doing?"  
"Trust me, man! I didn't become a secret agent by fluke, y'know!"  
Zell shook his head, and let Alex handle things.  
Alex continued quickly down the road. The strip was now 50 yards away. Alex kept up speed.  
40 yards.  
Alex began to let up on the gas.  
30 yards.  
Alex threw his hand to the side, by the emergency brake.  
20 yards.  
Alex flipped it up and cut the wheel right.  
10 yards.  
The car squealed in a hard turn.  
5 yards.  
The car violently began to stop.  
1 yard.  
The car stopped hard parallel to the strip. Alex hit the gas, and the car sped off into the fields. The pursuers, meanwhile, failed in the maneuver, and were halted by the tack strip. Zell stared at the spectacle behind him, allowed himself to breath, then looked at the two agents.  
"Nice work."  
"Thank you, sir."  
Alex looked at Ton, "Don't call me sir! It's Zell. Second off, can I ask you a question?"  
"Sure."  
"What kind of information do you have that we had to get you and only you out of here?"  
"Information regarding Harket himself, very valuable information."  
"Can you tell me?"  
"Oh yeah."  
***  
  
Kiros screamed out orders to the Esthar soldiers in the palace, but they were in vain, Galbadia's forces would overrun them in a short amount of time. He cursed and looked out at the cityscape. You could see all of Esthar from the roof of the Palace.  
-Too bad I'll never see it again.-  
Kiros gave up on giving orders; it was time to just take action. He reached to the sheathes on his belt, and pulled out the Katal blades. It had been ages since he had used them, but he still knew how.  
-I just hope I can.-  
With a blood-curdling battle cry, Kiros dashed at a shocked Galbadian soldier and folded his arms around and behind him. As he came up next to his opponent, he swung his arms back, slashing the man in two directions, and immediately killing him. The sound of a gun clicking behind him spurred a quick pivot, and he dug the katal blade into the man's throat.  
He stopped for a second, catching his breath, he was way too old to be doing something like this.  
-I just don't have a…-  
He was interrupted by the sound of a rather large engine, and the sudden blocking-out of the sun. He looked up, and the sky was filled with a familiar red dragon shape.  
-Choice.-  
The ship lowered, and the hatch opened, where Kiros was very happy to see Irvine Kinneas, beckoning the Esthar soldiers, "Someone call for an evac?"  
Kiros grinned and began a full dash towards the ship, following right behind his troops. Irvine whipped out his rifle, and began to fire off potshots at pursuing Galbadian soldiers. As the last of the Esthar soldiers entered the ship, Kiros came within the last ten yards, and started yelling for them to pull out. Irvine nodded and yelled into the ship, and the Ragnarok quickly began to lift up. Kiros pushed off with his feet and leapt.  
The Galbadian soldiers lined up and aimed their guns at the ship, the command came, and they opened fire at once.  
Kiros was inches away from catching the ship, and safety when the gunshots went off. He felt two bullets dig into his left leg, and screamed in pain, his momentum ending. He began to fall, reaching out his arms desperately for some sort of rescue.  
It came. Irvine grabbed Kiros by the wrist, and yanked him up onto the ship, bullets flying around them. Irvine quickly shut the door, and the Ragnarok sped off.  
Irvine looked at Kiros' leg, "You alright?"  
"Oh yeah, the bullets, they just bounce off of me."  
"Funny. You'll be fine. Where are Laguna and Neos?"  
"They evacuated earlier. They should be in Balamb about now."  
Irvine nodded, "Alright, sit tight, I'll get someone for the leg."  
  
((Next Chapter: The New Plan)) 


	6. Eye of the Storm

After Laguna and Neos had been recovered, Xu had them transported to Garden, which waited silently on the Balamb Continent for the arrival of the Ragnorak. When the ship did arrive, the wounded were quickly cared for, and Xu called in Miles, Lee, Jasmine, Irvine, Selphie, Quistis and Nida to meet with Laguna, Kiros and her.  
The group took a while to assemble, but when they finally did, it was in the Quad. Xu stepped up on stage, with all the dignity she could muster after a few days with no sleep, and began to speak.  
"Well everyone, I think we can honestly say that the worst is behind us for now."  
No one said anything.  
"It is true, that we still have the very real problem of Galbadia, but we've gained control of that situation, now we just have to take stock, and move from here."  
The loudspeaker came to life, "Xu, Zell's back. Mission success."  
Xu grabbed a small radio, "Great, send him to the Quad." Xu nodded, "Alright everyone, just a second." She ran off.  
Quistis shook her head, "Move where? Any effort we make to retake a city would result in reinforcements. Harket is pulling huge resources. We can't beat that. It's only a war of attrition."  
Selphie stamped her foot, "Quistis! Cheer up! Be happy-y-y!"  
Everyone turned to Selphie.  
"…I mean, at least we're alive! That means something, right?"  
Miles nodded, "It means that we are what the world has left. Galbadia can't be allowed to continue. It has to be destroyed. Again."  
Lee nodded, "Yeah, but that process took years. We don't have that much time."  
Xu walked back in with Zell and the two agents, she smiled, "Maybe, but we won't need that much time."  
"What?"  
"I've just been told that Harket has a deep dark little secret."  
Jasmine gestured for continuation, "So spill it!"  
Laguna stepped up, "Harket is a Sorcerer."  
All motion stopped, and for a solid minute, silence reigned supreme.  
"Wait!" Irvine spoke up, "That's bad!"  
Selphie nodded, "Super-duper bad!"  
Again, every face stared at Selphie in fixed curiosity, then turned back to the stage.  
Lee finally spoke up again, "Okay! Harket equals Sorcerer. Sorcerer equals bad. Somehow… you think that bad equals… good?"  
Laguna nodded, "It's… an opportunity! I didn't realize it until recently, but when Harket wanted Neos, there was a reason besides ransoming off the kid to Squall."  
"That is?"  
Kiros nodded in slow realization, "The sorcery gene…"  
Laguna concurred, "That's right. Some scientists believe that there is a gene within us, which makes us predisposed towards sorcery. In other words, we could wield and accept powers more readily."  
Jasmine sighed, "That's just a theory."  
"Maybe," Kiros said, "but I bet Harket believes it. He wants a successor. He figures Neos would make an excellent successor."  
Laguna nodded, "Correct, which of course means only one thing."  
Zell cracked his knuckles; "We can't let that guy get his hands on Neos."  
"Right."  
Ton Feris shook his head, "There is another factor, sir."  
Laguna raised an eyebrow, "That is?"  
"We got a few prisoner lists, and among the recently captured are two names you should probably know of. All of you."  
"Go ahead."  
"Well, Squall and Rinoa Leonheart."  
Laguna collapsed to one knee, and Xu stepped to help him up. He shook her off, and then pushed himself up, head sagged.  
"How and when?"  
"From the information I have, they were assisting a small resistance faction called the Forest Owls. The operation succeeded, and they managed to destroy an entire convoy of Galbadian soldiers, but when the invasion of Timber occurred…"  
"Alright. It is quite obvious what we need to do now."  
Zell nodded and grinned, "Let's bust 'em out!"  
Laguna nodded, "Right, but we have to be careful about it. Unfortunately, there is the problem of Harket. He needs to be dealt with."  
Selphie shook her head, "No way! Our friends are in trouble! Let's blow the place wide open!"  
Laguna held up a hand, "If we leave Harket, he could easily retaliate. Galbadia will fall without a leader. Meaning, we have to kill Harket. I figure, since we'll be in the area, why not pull off both at once?"  
Miles spoke up, "That would mean two teams."  
"Yes, it would, probably more, since we'd have to split and be rid of the security groups."  
"So who'd go where?"  
Xu jumped in, "Wait a minute! I'm the commander here! No disrespect to you Laguna, but this IS my organization right now, and I believe I have a right to be decide what we'll do!" Everyone froze and stared at her. She smiled, "I agree completely."  
Laguna nodded, "So… who would go where, Xu?"  
"Well, the assassination team would need someone who could do just that, assassinate. Irvine, I believe you have the skills."   
Irvine nodded.   
"Okay, Irvine'll need someone to cover him. Someone we know could handle themselves in a scrap…"  
Selphie cut in, "I'll do it!"  
For the third time, everyone took a long, hard look at Selphie.  
"Who would protect Irvine better than me?"  
Xu sighed, "Alright, fine! Now, the diversion teams will need a leader. Quistis. Zell, Nida, work under her on this one, I'll assign more SeeDs to help."  
The three nodded.  
"Finally, we'll need our rescue team, small and quick… Miles, Jasmine, you up for it?"  
Miles nodded, followed by Jasmine.  
"Great, okay then, all we need is the details."  
Laguna coughed, "I'm going on the Rescue team."  
"What?"  
"If you think, for one second, that I'm going to sit around while my son rots in a prison, you are dead wrong."  
"Laguna, you're the President of Esthar. You're a little recognizable, don't you think?"  
"Maybe, but I really don't care, and you really can't stop me."  
Xu sighed, and Miles interrupted the little scene, "Wait a minute! I really don't care who goes where, but aren't we forgetting something?"  
Everyone stared at him.  
"We don't know jack about the prison in Deling City. We need someone who does."  
Laguna nodded, "That prison was built when I was serving as a soldier. I don't know much about it myself, but I do know who designed it, as well as the man who designed all the security systems within it."  
"Who?"  
"One and the same. General Caraway."  
Zell groaned, "Okay, great! First off, he's in Winhill! Second off, I don't trust that guy as far as I can throw him!"  
Ton shook his head, "He is not in Winhill. He escaped with a few others during the invasion."  
"Oh, that's a lot better, now we don't even know where he is!"  
Laguna stamped his foot, "Look… he's our only hope! We just need to figure out where he is!"  
Lee slowly began to nod, "He's in Fisherman's Horizon."  
"How do you know that?"  
"Well… he moved to Winhill so he could get some peace and quiet. Winhill was taken over, so where's the next best place?"  
"A town that doesn't believe in weapons... that's brilliant!"  
Nida jumped up, "So what are we waiting for? Let's go!"  
Everyone spun and gave the usually quiet Nida a questioning look.  
"What? Can't I be a little excited?"  
  
((Next Chapter: Caraway)) 


	7. Dark Horizon

The very aged Mayor Dobe stood at the pathway into FH as Laguna, Miles and Jasmine walked out of Garden. They walked up to him, and he rose up a hand.  
"You can't come in here."  
Miles gave him a glare, "What?"  
"I'm sorry, but with the current world conflict, we can't let people who might cause violence in here."  
Miles looked around, "What's wrong with you, man?"  
"I wish no harm to come to this town."  
"Lives are at stake here!"  
"Yes, they are, and as such, I will protect the people of this town from violence."  
Laguna tapped Miles on the shoulder, and stepped up to the mayor. Dobe stood firm, "I don't care of your status, Loire, you can't come in here."  
"Dobe, here's the deal. If you don't let us through, we won't be able to defeat Galbadia. If we don't defeat Galbadia, then this town will be high on Harket's list of places to hit."  
"I'm sure that a peaceful resolution can…"  
"Man, he'll kill you! He'll kill you first, authority figures other than himself are bad for him."  
"Authority roles could be worked out, I'm sure…"  
"Dobe, maybe I should talk slower." Laguna took the time to pronounce each word carefully, and precisely, "You… …are… …an… …idiot!"  
Dobe became frustrated, "Now look here!"  
"No, you look here! You either let us in, or get us Caraway!"  
Dobe froze.  
"Those are your options."  
Dobe nodded, "I'll get him."  
The mayor ran off, and Laguna turned to the young couple behind him, "Well?"  
Miles gave a few short claps, and Jasmine stared at Laguna, "Weren't you a little hard on him?"  
"That guy'll get over it, or he'll go on a rampage and slaughter the people on the town… the way he bottles up his emotions… it's creepy. Either way, we got what we needed."  
"Not yet," Miles said, "he still needs to agree."  
"Hey, this is his daughter we're talking about!"  
"Laguna, how well do you know of the relationship between Rinoa and her father?"  
"Not well, you?"  
"I've heard enough stories. Not pretty."  
"Ohhhh…"  
"Plus, how do you think he's gonna respond to the guy who not only led an opposing nation, but also is the father of his son-in-law, AND had a huge crush on his wife?"  
"How do you know these things?"  
"Rinoa shares a lot of stories. No one may use GFs anymore, but those who did are still a bit paranoid over memory loss."  
Laguna scratched the back of his head, "Maybe I should leave the talking up to you?"  
Miles nodded and motioned for Laguna to go on, "No, I think I'm gonna enjoy watching this."  
Caraway arrived, and walked up the bridge in a dignified manner for a man of 63. He took one look at Laguna, then turned and began to walk away.  
"Wait! General!"  
The man turned around, "What is it, Loire?"  
"Caraway, we need your help."  
"Well, looks like you've finally given up at being an idiot and learned to ask for help. What do you need?"  
Laguna scratched the back of his head, unable to think of what to say, "I need your help in rescuing our kids from Deling City prison. You're the only one who knows the access codes, and the layout of the building. Please?"  
Caraway stepped back, "Rinoa is in DCP?"  
"Squall too."  
"What happened?"  
"They were caught as part of a Galbadia resistance faction."  
"That girl was always to stubborn. Serves her right, Squall too!"  
"WHAT?"  
Caraway turned and slowly began to walk away, "It was bound to happen."  
"You're not going to help?"  
Carway turned again, "Give me a reason to! My daughter hates me, don't you know that? Of course, you don't know what that's like. Loire, you'll never get it. Good luck."  
"I do know what it is like. Squall hated me too. I proved that I wasn't what he thought I was though. Why can't you try the same?"  
"I've bailed that girl out enough! Never once has she been grateful."  
"With all due respect Caraway, YOU never bailed her out. You just sent someone to do your work for you. Maybe you should do this personally."  
Caraway gave a hard stare.  
"You're a grandfather, you know."  
"What?"  
"I figured you never found out. Rinoa and Squall had a kid seven years ago. His name is Neos."  
"Why are you saying this?"  
"They haven't given him anti-Caraway feelings. So… if you can't prove it to your daughter, prove something to your grandson. C'mon, do you want that kid to be an orphan?"  
"You know, Loire, I don't remember you being such a good speaker."  
"Well… you spend Hyne knows how long as a President, you learn."  
"Alright, fine. I'll guide you through. I'll go personally, an old man like you wouldn't get through alone anyway."  
"Hey, you're a year older than me. If I'm old, what are you?"  
"Young at heart."  
"Okay then Mr. Up-and-at-em, wanna meet our escort?"  
"What?"  
Laguna gestured towards Miles and Jasmine, "Miles and Jasmine Animus, they'll be protecting our varied-age-asses."  
  
((Next Chapter: Preparations)) 


	8. Preparing for the Winds

"Okay, the teams have been assembled for all the different operations. Let's go over this once again."  
Xu stood at the table, staring over the map of Deling City. Laguna, Caraway, Miles, Jasmine, Quistis, Irvine, Selphie, and Nida were assembled around the table.  
She continued, "At 0900 hours tomorrow morning, Quistis will have three teams prepared. Team one will attack the eastern side of the city, and Team two will assault the west. This will split the main forces of Harket. At 0930, we'll have the forces split, and Team three will move in. You'll attack Harket's main bodyguard forces, keeping them distracted, while Assassination team moves for the kill. I'm not sure of the time frame here, but we should try to make it as quick and clean as possible. At 0930, the jailbreak team will be moving in with Team three. The objectives of this mission are to bust out Rinoa and Squall, and assassinate Harket. With any luck, we'll get them done, quick and clean. We want to have both of our objectives completed more or less at the same time. Questions?"  
There were none, and the group began to shuffle out of the room, except for Nida, who remained behind, staring at the map. Xu looked at him, "Something wrong?"  
"This is gonna be hard."  
"Very. A sorcerer and an entire military force… we've done it before, but…"  
"We were lucky."  
"We can do it."  
Nida looked up at her, "Yeah. I hope we all make it out."  
Xu gave a soft smile, "Me too."  
Their eyes met.  
  
***  
  
"Irvy?"  
Irvine Kinneas turned around and took a look at Selphie Tilmett. He was standing on the Quad balcony, dressed in the traditional gear he had worn seventeen years ago.  
He grinned, "What's up, Sefie?"  
She laughed, "You haven't called me that in years." She took a look at him, "You haven't worn that in years either…"  
"Yeah, well, I guess it's a time of looking back."  
"On what?"  
"I don't know. I just feel that this fits the situation. Kind of a… desperado type of mission."  
She wrapped her arms around him and burrowed her face into his shoulder, "Are you ready?"  
"Hey," he said, flashing a grin, "I'm always ready."  
"Irvy…"  
"Don't worry, I think I've been through enough. Taking out a sorcerer shouldn't be much. Just as long as I have my Sefie keeping me safe."  
Selphie game a small grin and whispered into his ear, "Booyaka."  
  
***  
  
Lee Reist quietly opened the door that led to the room he and Veronica shared. Veronica was sitting silently in a chair, staring at the mirror in front of her. He quietly stepped behind her.  
"You're beautiful."  
She gave a soft smile.  
"Hey, Veronica, there's a question that I want to ask you."  
She turned her head towards him.  
He scratched his head, "I mean, we're about to go into a pretty hostile situation, y'know? Could be bad, I don't like to think about it, but one of us might not make it back alive, y'know? Anyway, I don't want to have any regrets marching into this one." Lee got down on one knee and reached into his pocket, pulling out a small gold band. He extended his hands to Veronica, "Veronica, will you marry me?"  
She took the band into her hand, tears glistening in her hands, "Yes!"  
Lee breathed a sigh of relief, and embraced her.  
"Lee," she said after a few moments, "I'm so glad you asked me this."  
He sighed, "I know, I shouldn't have delayed so long…"  
"I don't mind about that, Lee, but I just found out something this morning. Something kind of important."  
"What is it babe?"  
"Lee… I'm pregnant. You're going to be a father."  
  
((Next Chapter: Miles announces something, Deling City, shared emotions, connection, security systems, explosions, cars, lions, tigers, and bears oh my!)) 


	9. The Calm Ends

The wind blew across the plains outside of Deling City. Miles stood tall, his Dual Hyperion held firmly in his hand. Jasmine stepped up behind him, and placed her hand softly on his shoulder.  
"Miles… what's wrong?"  
He gave her a soft smile, "Nothing at all. I've just got something to tell you."  
She rubbed her hand down his arm, "What is it?"  
"I'll tell you later."  
She sighed, "Miles…"  
"Trust me. When we get out of this."  
Laguna and Caraway stood behind the couple.  
Laguna sighed, "Remember when we were like that? Young… in love…"  
Caraway gave him a hard glare, "When you were that age, I believe you were hitting on my future wife."  
Laguna felt his leg cramp up and gritted his teeth, "Bad example."  
"Very."  
"It is kinda funny though."  
"Where's the joke?"  
"Jeez. I mean, look at us, I'm the President of Esthar, and you're a military commander of Galbadia. Our kids got married. Hey, up until FH a while ago, when was the last time we saw each other?"  
Caraway frowned, "Their wedding."  
"Oh yeah!" Laguna laughed, "I was invited by Rinoa, without Squall knowing, and you were invited by Squall, without Rinoa knowing! That was pretty damned funny."  
Caraway smiled only slightly.  
"Y'know man, we have more in common than you think. You should think about that some."  
The older man stared hard at Laguna, who kept his stare fixed on Miles and Jasmine, "I will."  
Miles turned around and walked towards Laguna and Caraway.  
"Laguna, General… hey, do you have a first name?"  
Caraway stared at Miles, "General."  
Miles shook his head, "Laguna, Caraway, half-hour left."  
  
***  
  
"LET'S GO!"  
The first shots were fired, and on the command of Quistis, Zell and Nida charged their teams right towards the city. It was an all too familiar sight for veterans of the Deling City invasion 7 years ago, but this was different. They weren't trying to take the city, they were just a distraction.  
That only made the situation worse. No one wanted to be a simple distraction team.  
Nonetheless, Zell charged in with all his enthusiasm. No response came from the Galbadian military, but it would come.  
He dashed into the city streets, his footsteps making an eerie echo on the pavement.  
This city is totally empty.  
He stepped around some more, as a full out charge became a silent march through the city streets. All the buildings were in pristine condition, but not a reply came from any. The sound of footsteps was all that could be heard. As they entered the square, he could see Nida's team enter also. Zell gave a friendly wave, and then stopped in his tracks.  
The sound of footsteps wasn't the only sound.  
Just a few feet away, he heard a small beeping. He looked toward the fountain, and steppe towards it slowly, the beeping getting louder. In front of the fountain, Zell saw a small package, gift-wrapped. He squatted by it, and pulled the card out of the ribbon.  
  
Seed-  
I do hope you enjoy the little present I left behind for you. Your glorious commander and his wife are still in the prison, although I doubt you'll have time to get them out.  
  
Sincerely,  
Alexian Harket,  
President of Galbadia  
  
Zell slowly unwrapped the package, to reveal a small, metallic case, surrounded by wires, and small tanks of some liquid. On top, was an electronic timer, which read thirty minutes.  
He grabbed his radio, backing away, "Quistis, we got a problem. A BIG problem."  
  
***  
  
Miles got the transmission on his radio, and listened to Zell's description of the problem. He turned to Caraway and Laguna.  
"There's a bomb in the city. Harket evacuated everyone. This is a trap."  
Laguna shook his head, "Are Squall and Rinoa alright?"  
"They're still in the prison."  
Caraway nodded grimly, "Then we know what we have to do. How much time do we have left?"  
Miles checked his watch, "Twenty-seven minutes."  
Caraway nodded, "Let's go!"  
Laguna stared at him, "Are you starting to care?"  
"Don't say that, Loire. It would be bad for my reputation. Besides, I'm young, I'm allowed to change."  
They entered the car that had been given to them for the mission, and drove into the city.  
  
***  
  
Miles heard his radio through a bit of static, "Miles, what are you doing? We're evacuating!"  
He replied, "I'm going into the city?"  
"Get out of there, you've only got 25 minutes left!"  
"Hey, that's plenty of time!" He looked at Caraway, "That's enough time, right?"  
The General shook his head, and Miles cursed.  
"Miles! Get out of there!"  
"Hey, I'm not leaving them behind!"  
"Look, we all want Squall and Rinoa safe, but there's no way! You get out now and we lose two. You continue, and we'll lose six!"  
"Hey, Xu… you've got Squall and Rinoa's fathers here. What do you think are the odds that you can call them off?" There was no reply, "I thought so. Hey, how much time do we have?"  
"Twenty-four minutes."  
"I'll see you in twenty-three minutes."  
He flipped off the radio, and took a look at Caraway, "Okay, you know the security systems, how long will it take?"  
"Fourty-five minutes to an hour."  
Fuck.  
The car screeched to a halt, and the group burst the doors open. They dashed up to the prison door, where Caraway instantly began to punch in codes to the doorway. Miles turned to Jasmine, who had her guns drawn and was covering Caraway.  
"Hey Jas, I think I should tell you now."  
She softened a bit, "Well… what do you want to talk to me about?"  
He looked down and scratched his head, "I've been thinking, and y'know, I know I've been a bit of a jerk lately. But, if we ever get out of this… I was thinking that maybe we could y'know… have a kid or two. Hell, maybe three…"  
She grinned and embraced him, "Oh Miles!"  
Laguna sighed, "I hate to interrupt the moment, but we have a problem."  
Miles let go of Jasmine, "What's wrong?"  
Caraway grimaced, "My access codes don't work. Should've seen that coming."  
Miles pulled out the Dual Hyperion, "Use mine."  
He shoved the weapon into the panel and pulled the trigger. Alarms began to blare all over the facility, and the door flew open.  
Caraway glanced at Miles, who shrugged.  
"I like the direct approach." He checked his watch, "We've got twenty minutes, let's go!"  
They dashed into the facility at the fastest speed they could go, with Caraway out in front, pointing down each hallway and veering into different directions. For an old man, he kept a brisk pace, and Miles found it hard to keep up at certain points. Luckily, all the guards had been evacuated, which made things much simpler. They came to a large control room, and Caraway halted.  
"Okay, here's where I stop. I need to be at this console. I'll deactivate every system along your way. Good luck."  
Miles nodded, "Eighteen minutes." Then he ran off with Laguna and Jasmine. The path to the prison block containing Squall and Rinoa only took three minutes with the systems deactivated. They came to the cell, and Squall and Rinoa were sleeping soundly next to each other. The cell itself had absolutely no sort of bars or restraining devices.  
Miles grinned, "Gee, I hate to interrupt… but…. WAKE UP!"  
They both startled to life, and Laguna gave a wide grin, "You guys want out?"  
Rinoa clapped, "Yessss!"  
Miles moved to enter the cell, but was stopped by Squall.  
"No!"  
"What's wrong?"  
Squall moved his hand sideways, "These are invisible beams protecting the cell. You could be a pile of ashes right now."  
Miles nodded and flipped on the radio, "Yo, C-man, how we coming on the lasers?"  
"Lasers?"  
"Yeah, protecting the cells?"  
"I don't remember any lasers."  
"Shit."  
Miles looked around; there was an overly complicated control panel, and a power box. He looked around some more.  
"Jasmine, you still have your little mirror thingy?"  
She sighed, "You mean my 180 degree special ops mirror?"  
"Whatever, do you have it?"  
"No."  
"Then I'll have to improvise."  
Laguna nodded, "I see what you're getting at. I know exactly where we can get it."  
Miles raised an eyebrow, and Laguna dashed into a men's room. There was clinking and crashing, then Laguna ran out with a broken piece of mirror.  
"Careful," he said, handing it over, "It's sharp."  
Miles accepted it, then brushed the others away. He took a look at the laser conductors for a second, and then slowly placed the mirror in the way of one of the beams. He pointed it at an angle, and immediately, the wall had a large black spot in it. He kept twisting the mirror, until the beam finally hit the power generator. Instantly, the generator exploded in a display of sparks, and the beams failed.  
Squall and Rinoa stepped out, giving a huge sigh of relief. Squall nodded, "Thanks. I suppose you all want to know what happened?"  
Miles shook his head, "Not now," he moved for the door, "we have ten minutes!"  
Laguna and Jasmine began to run past Squall and Rinoa, who asked, "Ten minutes until what?"  
Laguna paused, "Until Deling City goes nuclear."  
Rinoa choked, "What?"  
Squall grabbed her by the wrist, "Come on!"  
  
***  
  
Miles dashed past the control room, "Time to go, Caraway!"  
The man came out of the control room and began to run alongside the group. Rinoa gave a small gasp, but didn't have time for a reaction. They exited the building without a hesitation, and Miles pivoted and ran backwards, yelling to Laguna for the keys. Laguna tossed them, and he caught them, turned around, and opened the car door, quickly turning on the ignition. The entire group hopped into the car, and Miles quickly checked his watch.  
Four minutes  
Caraway gave him a glare, "Why are you driving?"  
"Because we don't have time for an old man to ride the brakes." Miles turned and looked at everyone, "Better put your seatbelts on. It's gonna be rough."  
Everyone quickly complied, and Miles smashed his foot on the pedal.  
Three minutes.  
The cityscape flew by, but the exit was not in sight. Rinoa turned to her father, then shook her head and looked out the window. The older man's look of hope turned to disappointment.  
Squall spoke above the roar of the engine, "What happened?"  
Laguna answered, "We found out about your captivity, so we decided to kill two birds with one stone. We decided to kill Harket, and get you out. We got the good General here, since he knew how to get around all the systems. He was more than eager to help out you two." Caraway gave Laguna a glance after the bold lie. Laguna continued, "Unfortunately, Harket had the city evacuated by the time we arrived. All we found was a huge bomb. Caraway went insane, and insisted that we go in despite the danger."   
Once again, Caraway glared in curiosity. Rinoa gave another glance at her father, then looked away, but allowed one hand to drift over, and meet with his.  
One minute  
Miles pushed harder, but the pedal was as down as it got. The city limits were only a mile away. The slightest tap on the steering wheel to the right or left would send the car veering off wildly at the speed they were going.  
Thirty seconds.  
The car flew up to the exit of the city.  
Ten seconds.  
Miles kept going through the exit; the blast range would be wider.  
Five.  
Four.  
Three.  
Two.  
One.  
Boom.  
The entire car was filled with white, and Miles shut his eyes, as the world seemed to burst around them. The sound hit a second later, and it was loud. It was a deafening sound comparable to thunder. The rear of the car picked up, flying upwards, and almost flipped the car, but then, everything relaxed, and the car fell back down on its tires roughly.  
Everything was silent. Finally, Jasmine spoke up.  
"Well, that wasn't hard now was it?"  
  
((Next Chapter: Changing things around)) 


	10. Rising Waters

"Our mistake was coming to Harket."  
Squall stood on the bridge of Balamb Garden, with Xu, Laguna, and Caraway.  
"We should have made Harket come to us."  
Laguna shook his head, "How exactly do we go about something like that?"  
Squall sighed, "It's risky. It is very risky. I'll tell you later, but we need to figure out where Harket is now."  
Laguna sighed, "I think he might be in Esthar."  
Caraway nodded, "Knowing this guy's record, that would be a definite next move. He is a sorcerer after all, and we all remember what part Esthar had in the sorceress wars."  
"Right," Squall said, "But that only makes things harder."  
"Squall, what are you planning to do, anyway?"  
Squall grinned at Laguna, "Same thing my father did, only a bit more complicated."  
  
***  
  
Miles and Jasmine sat next to each other in the small crowd that had gathered for the event. Lee stood rather uncomfortably in his tux at the front of the room, waiting silently for the moment.  
And it came. The music began to play, and in walked Veronica, dressed in a long, flowing dress, and with a significant procession. Jasmine leaned over to Miles and whispered, "Reminds me of our wedding."  
"It should, we had it right here."  
She smiled, "So… were you serious?"  
"Huh?"  
"About a kid? Do you really want to go ahead with this?"  
"Jas, I've never been more sure than anything in my life."  
Veronica arrived next to Lee, and the preacher began, "Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today, in the sight of Hyne…"  
  
***  
  
"This is totally insane."  
"It WILL work."  
"Squall, I'm telling you, it's too risky."  
"Dad, Harket is feeling very cocky right now. I'm telling you, this'll work."  
"We have no idea what Harket will do."  
Caraway interrupted, "Look, both of you, I agree with Squall. This should work. Harket is overconfident, and we can win the day."  
Squall nodded, "Thank you. Look, dad, you did the same thing. We get a hologram of Neos. Send a few fake transmissions suggesting that he's been stranded with someone by Esthar. When he personally investigates, he finds himself in a cruel ambush. Meanwhile, we've got a small team getting Neos safely off the planet to the Lunar Base, which you still have control of."  
"Right, but what if Harket doesn't fall for it, or doesn't go himself?"  
"Then we modify the plan. Point here is, it gives us time to get Neos safely off-planet. If we get Harket in the deal, so be it."  
Laguna shook his head, "I still think it's a mistake. Have you talked to Rinoa about this?"  
"Yes, and she wants the same. We have to get the kid out of this situation."  
"So who goes where?"  
"You'll have to make the transport to Lunar Base; you've got the control. Lee and Veronica Reist will serve as your escort to the takeoff."  
Laguna nodded, "This had better work."  
"Trust me." Squall grinned, "It will."  
  
((Next Chapter: The Ragnarok, the space station, one last showdown, Laguna rises, things blow up, and guns get shot. Need you ask for anything more?)) 


	11. The Flood

The world was silent. No one moved, no one even dared to breath. The slightest sound felt like an avalanche of noise to anyone on the team. The Ragnorak was positioned in a field outside of Esthar, and right by the ship was a hologram keeping a display of Neos, sound asleep. Zell, Selphie, and Rinoa were outside of the ship, acting as if they had recently crashed. At points, they would even "interact" with the hologram, just in case Harket should come by. Surrounding the ship, hidden in by foliage, were members of SeeD, ready to jump at any time. Snipers were atop the Ragnarok, covered with camouflage that made them undetectable. Everyone was prepared, but there was one problem.  
Harket hadn't shown. It had been two hours since he was estimated to appear, and he still hadn't shown up. Nothing had come, not even a team. Squall looked from his vantage point in the cockpit of the ship.  
-Could we have been wrong? Is he not in Esthar?-  
That's when the radio blared to life, and Squall heard a deep voice emanate, "Leonheart. What are you doing in Esthar?"  
Squall stared blankly at the radio, "Who is this?"  
"Who do you think? Y'know, it was a nice idea, but I've studied my history way too much to fall for that dumb trick. You really ought to stop taking lessons from your father. The man was an idiot. Oh, and you really are predictable. Sending the child to space? Come on now! It is of no importance, we shall have him soon enough. Now stop making a fool of yourself and get out of here!"  
Squall opened his mouth, but the radio flipped off.  
-SHIT! Why is he always one step ahead?-  
  
***  
  
Lee looked at his watch, "Come on! How long does it take?"  
"Hey," Laguna said, "This takes a little while, y'know?"  
"Yeah, but I'll feel a lot better once I get you two out of here."  
The P.A. came to life, "President Loire, Neos is secure, and ready for departure."  
Laguna yelled back, "Great! Get a pod ready for me!"  
Then they heard it. First it was a small noise, then it became louder, and soon, it was a deafening rumbling sound. Lee motioned for everyone to stay back, and ran into the lobby, where he plainly saw a squad of tanks, and a substantial amount of soldiers, heading right for them.  
He backed into the preparation room, "Guys, move, now!"  
He shoved Laguna into the pod, and the machines quickly began. The P.A. came to life  
again, "Okay, all set, preparing to launch."  
Lee yelled, "NO! Wait! Two more!"  
The tech stared at him through the glass, and Lee motioned an explosion with his hands. The tech nodded, and another pod appeared.  
"Veronica! Go!"  
She shook her head, "I'm staying with you!"  
"Don't be like this! They can only take one at a time, I'll be a second behind you!"  
The doors blew open in the lobby.  
"Lee…"  
He grabbed her and shoved her in, "I'll be right behind you!"  
The pod locked and loaded, and another quickly appeared, just as the doors came open and soldiers poured in. Lee leaped inside the pod, the door shut, and he felt himself drift off to sleep.  
He was still asleep as the pods were launched into space, and he heard, nor saw, the Lunar Launch Base's destruction.  
  
***  
  
Space. Lee had never been in space, but he had heard fantastic stories about the first explorations, as well as the later trips. The reconstructed Lunar Base was a sight to see, twice as large as the last one, but with a similar architecture. He finally awoke in a dull, orange-colored room. There was a flash of light, a loud sound, and suddenly, he could move (more or less) again.  
He was free floating. He could see Laguna, and Veronica, and Neos, floating alongside him. Then he heard a distant voice say something about gravity, and he fell like a rock into one of the walls.  
Or is it the floor?  
He pushed himself up, and was greeted by a friendly technician, "Hi! Welcome to Lunar Base II. I was told there would only be two of you."  
Laguna nodded, "Situation changed on us. Is Lunar Launch Base alright?"   
The technician shook his head, "It's been destroyed. Right after your departure, actually."  
The group was in shock for a moment. Finally, the technician smiled at Neos, "You wanna see the control room?"  
The child's eyes brightened up, and he followed the Tech. The others exited the room, and stood out in the hall.  
Lee shook his head, "Sorry bout the trouble, Laguna."  
"Don't worry about it, you two make yourselves comfortable, we'll be here for a while."  
Lee nodded, "Actually, if you don't mind, I wanna see the control room too."  
Veronica gave a small giggle, "You boys never grow up, do you?"  
"Nope, flashing lights still get me all giddy."  
Lee dashed, as best as he could in low-g, towards the control room. Laguna watched him, and then turned to Veronica, "Are you alright?"  
She nodded, patting her stomach, "I'm fine, thank you. I could use a nice bed though."  
Laguna smiled, "Right in that room."  
She looked at the door, "The infirmary?"  
"Hey, it's a bed."  
She smiled, "Thank you, Laguna."  
  
***  
  
Laguna walked into the control room, to see Neos silently watching the technicians go about their jobs. Lee on the other hand, was running wildly around the room, asking what each button did.  
Laguna shook his head, "At least one of you has some intelligence."  
Lee smiled, "Hey, this is cool stuff! Neos is the grandson of a President; he sees stuff like this all the time! I don't get to see this very often. Let me have my moment."  
Laguna grinned, then his grin quickly faded as he stared out the view screen. Lee stared at Laguna, "What is it?"  
Laguna continued to stare, and Lee noticed that everyone was staring, so Lee turned and took a look outside. A very large, red object was heading right for the station.  
Lee shook his head, if I didn't know any better, I'd say that's …  
A technician voiced the thought, "The Ragnorak!"  
Lee looked at him, "Impossible, it's planetside, in control of SeeD!"  
Laguna shook his head, "There are three. The other two were in Esthar."  
Lee whirled around, "What? That means…"  
Laguna nodded, "That's right, Harket is on that thing. All personnel prepare for a boarding. I don't know how many."  
A technician looked up, "Sir, sensors pick up about twelve life forms on board."  
"Okay then."  
"What do we do?"  
"Prepare for evacuation. I'll handle this."  
Lee grabbed Laguna, "You can't. Twelve to one!"  
"They want my grandson, they come through me, and only me. No one else, and that's an order!"  
The Ragnarok II filled the viewscreen, and everyone could hear the sounds of airlocks locking together, and opening. Laguna did an about-face, and moved out of the control room.  
Lee jumped, "Laguna, where are you going?"  
Laguna grinned, "The weapons room."  
Neos ran after his grandfather. Lee cursed, and followed behind the pair.  
  
***  
  
Lee entered the weapons stock room, and was greeted with a sight that would have made a gun freak faint. Hundreds of weapons were all over the room, each shiny and new. Laguna turned around, with a machine gun that was easily up to his waist, and jammed the cartridge into it. He looked at Lee.  
"Do you know how to use a gun? You won't get close enough to hit him."  
Lee looked around, "No, but I know how to use one of these…"  
His eyes fell on a gunblade in the corner.  
  
***  
  
The trio entered the airlock. Laguna and Lee held their weapons up. Laguna's aiming at the doorway, while Lee gripped the handle with both hands and held the blade to the ground. Neos stood behind them. The door opened, and the first three poured in, downed quickly by Laguna's gunfire.  
The others waited smartly in the Ragnorak's bay. There was a moment of obscure silence, until a small metallic object bounced into the room. Laguna cursed, and grabbed Neos. The three ran outside of the room and leaped as far as they could before an explosion sounded from the airlock room. Laguna left Neos on the ground, then flipped back around.  
"What are you? Idiots? This is a space station!"  
He was answered by gunfire.  
"Oh shit!"  
He ducked to one side of the door, while Lee was on the other. Laguna nodded to the younger man, who acknowledged. Laguna braced himself to the wall, and started shooting into the airlock room. As he finished, Lee ran in with the gunblade, with a ferocious battle cry.  
Laguna hopped in behind him, and started firing off into the bay, then the two moved to invade the Ragnorak itself  
"Harket!"  
The man stopped midway on the ladder, and looked at Laguna. He grinned, and the gun flew off to the corner. Neos ran up, and Laguna stopped him with a hand.  
"President Loire, what an honor to meet you. Now, I'm afraid we must dispose of pleasantries rather quickly. Give me the boy. I asked you nicely last time, this is the final time you'll hear me ask."  
Laguna stood firm, "No."  
"Very well."  
Harket motioned with his hand, and Laguna lifted from the ground, and flew into the wall, by the gun. Harket moved towards Neos, and Lee jumped into action, swinging the gunblade towards Harket's face. Harket raised his hand in front of the blade, and the weapon bounced uselessly off of an energy shield. Lee twirled around, and tried swinging at the back, once again being blocked. He pulled up and around, with the same result. He attempted a flurry of assaults, but none succeeded. Finally, Harket stared him straight in the eye, "I tire of this game."  
Lee felt a slam to his stomach, and collapsed to the ground. Harket smiled at the two, turned, and moved to the station.  
  
***  
  
Neos was huddled in the corner when Harket walked in. The older man looked at the child, and smiled.  
"Hello, Neos." He extended a hand, "Come. We should go now."  
Neos shook his head.  
Harket feigned shock and hurt, "You don't want to come with me?"  
Neos continued to shake his head, "No. You're a bad man."  
"Oh you believe those lies your parents have told you?"  
"My mom and dad would never lie to me!"  
"Oh really?"  
"Yes."  
Harket shook his head, "Fine. I'll take you by force."  
Harket reached to grab the child, and Neos responded by biting the man's hand.  
"Ow! You little son of a bitch!"  
Neos picked up and ran into the infirmary. Harket shook his hand for a moment, then moved in to follow.  
  
***  
  
Laguna winced and opened his eyes, rolling over on his back and pushing himself up. He looked over at Lee, who was struggling to do the same. After a moment, they both stood, and gave a quick nod to each other. Then, they ran out to the station.  
  
***  
  
The infirmary was a bad place to run to. Neos found himself trapped, with nowhere to run, as Harket walked slowly over to him.  
"Don't be afraid, child, this is your destiny!"  
Neos screamed, "No!"  
Veronica, meanwhile, was awoken by the sudden commotion, and found herself watching the situation, defenseless. She ran to the door, attempting to alert someone, when the door came open, and in a very heroic fashion, Laguna and Lee entered. Lee moved to Veronica, and checked if she was all right, while Laguna walked over to Harket.  
Harket grimly smiled, "Loire, you're too old for this."  
Laguna grinned, "Maybe, but you've forgotten one thing Harket."  
He smiled and turned, holding his hand up, "What is that?"  
"Infirmaries have magic barriers you stupid son of a bitch."  
Laguna swung the machine gun across Harket's face, knocking the younger man to the floor. Lee quickly grabbed Neos and pulled him out of the room. Laguna raised the gun up to fire, but Harket rolled out of the way, jumped up, and swung a punch which Laguna easily dodged, and countered by hitting Harket in the gut with the gun barrel. Harket fell back, and then pushed himself up again. He cursed and spat out some blood, then rammed into Laguna, knocking the weapon to the ground. Laguna shook it off and stood up throwing an uppercut into Harket's face. Harket backed up a few steps, but stood strong, then kicked Laguna square in the gut, followed by a devastating jab to the face. Laguna collapsed back to the ground as Harket made for the door. As it opened, he exited.  
And was quickly greeted by the side of a gunblade.  
Harket fell backwards and back into the infirmary, as Lee stood tall over him.  
"Hey jackass." Lee lifted the weapon over his head, but Harket rolled to the side, just in time to avoid the blade hitting the ground. As Harket rolled, he grabbed Laguna's machine gun and raised it to shoot at Lee, who cursed and dove across the room, dodging the first round.  
Harket just walked around the table and looked at Lee, who was pushing himself up. Harket took careful aim, as the horrified Lee looked on, helpless.  
"Who's the jackass now, Reist?"  
Harket fingered the trigger, then felt a dull pain on his head, right before he collapsed to the ground. He managed to flip around, where Laguna stood with a small rubber mallet, grinning like an idiot.  
"Damn you."  
"Yeah, yeah, whatever." Laguna picked up his gun from the ground, "Give me one good reason why I shouldn't kill you where you lie."  
Harket kicked his feet outwards, smashing into Laguna's legs, and knocking the older man down to the ground again. The gun fell harmlessly to the side, and Harket stood over Laguna now, pulling out a small pistol from his coat, "Goodbye, Mr. President."  
One shot. Two shots. Three shots.  
Harket collapsed, and Laguna blinked in astonishment to see a proud Lee Reist standing over the body. Laguna gave a small grin as Veronica walked over, "Are you alright?"  
"Yeah," Laguna said, "I think we'll all be alright."  
Harket groaned, and everyone focused on him, as his finger pointed at Veronica, then collapsed back down. The body jerked for a second, then a sheer blast of light filled the room. Everyone covered their eyes, and when they opened them, everything was in bad condition.  
Alarms blared throughout the space station, reporting sudden malfunction of the entire complex. Laguna cursed and yelled, "Let's get out of here!"  
Lee grabbed Veronica by the wrist, and they ran through the space station to the escape pods. Neos, Laguna, Veronica, and Lee squeezed into one, and Laguna hit the launch switch. The pod screamed off away from the station, following behind a cluster of pods, which carried the space staff. None of them could look behind them and watch as the space station's structure blew a hole, and the atmosphere slowly vented out. A small spark caught, and caused a group of flames to vent, then slowly die with the lack of oxygen. The station tilted off of its axis, and began a slow, lazy spin away from the planet, off into the endlessness of space.  
It was over.  
  
((Next Chapter: The wrap up, fade out)) 


	12. Epilogue

Miles sat on the side of the bed in his room, a bit anxious. He looked around, at all the items he and Jasmine had stored here. All the memories of their time together. He didn't remember too much about the alternate future anymore, but he remembered enough, and he didn't regret his decision for a second.  
"So," he loudly said, trying to make conversation, "I was talking to Squall earlier today."  
Jasmine yelled from the bathroom, "Really?"  
"Yeah, he says that Esthar is doing well on mopping up Galbadia. Apparently, once Harket was killed, morale plummeted. Most of the army split. It's really all over, just the cleaning up."  
"Yeah."  
"Yep, Esthar moves in to free Winhill tomorrow. They say that they should have the whole thing done by next week. Quick conclusion to a quick beginning, huh?"  
There was no reply.  
"Jas?"  
Jasmine slowly stepped out of the bathroom and looked at Miles.  
He stared at her expectantly, barely able to speak the words, "Well?"  
She nodded, with a wide grin on her face, "I'm pregnant."  
He leaped up, "We did it!"  
They embraced each other, in celebration. Life had been preserved, and life would be continued.  
  
-Philip "Tooner" McCabe  



	13. Bonus Preview

((The world has been saved. Again. However, Twenty years later, a new, much more dangerous threat is rising, and the older generation is no longer equipped. It is up to their children to rise up to the occasion and fight the threat that is quickly rising. They'll have to overcome some of the greatest losses of their lives to do it, but they must. Ladies and Gentlemen, Final Call III)  
  
"Pull."  
Peter Animus raised his revolver up and gripped it solidly with both hands. The first small disk flew into the air, and he fired off a shot. It hit dead on target, and the second and third discs flew up from the ground. He took quick aim, and shot at each. Another disk, another hit. The process continued for five minutes, until finally he yelled for them to stop.  
Peter holstered the gun, and turned to a very impressed Neos Leonheart. At twenty-seven, Neos was Peter's senior by seven years, and stood a good two inches taller with an impressive 6'1" height. Peter grinned and exited the training room with Neos.  
The small attachment to the Training Center had been placed in ten years ago, to compensate for the lack of real target practice for gun users. They exited into the halls of Balamb Garden, where students rushed to their next class, or for a personal rendezvous. Garden was currently landed in the Alcaud plains near Balamb, for a fresh arrival of students and supplies.  
A lot had changed in 20 years, yet much was still the same. Squall had retired from his position, and moved to Winhill with his wife, Rinoa. They were in their mid-fifties now, and Rinoa still didn't look a day over thirty. Irvine and Selphie had moved away fifteen years ago, and lived in Balamb now. Quistis still worked in Garden, now mainly doing paperwork. Zell, meanwhile, had moved back into Balamb to care for his aging parents ten years ago. They passed away, but he remained behind. Peter's parents, Miles and Jasmine, were in their mid forties now. Miles was in command of Garden, while Jasmine stuck with her instructor position. Lee Reist served as the head of SeeD's strategic elements. His wife, Veronica, was now one of the more dependable SeeD members. Their child, Alex, was one of Peter's good friends for a while. He had left Garden about a year ago, and no one had heard from him since. The other Leonheart child, Julia, was 18 now, and had recently become a SeeD. Laguna was long dead, but still hailed as one of Esthar's great leaders.  
Neos extended a hand to Peter, "That was some great shooting, Pete."  
Peter smiled, "Thanks, it really wasn't much."  
"Bull. You didn't miss a target."  
"Well…"  
"Don't be modest Pete, it doesn't suit you, or your family."  
Peter grinned, "I'm going to the cafeteria."  
Neos shrugged, "Have fun."  
  
***  
  
"So why don't we use GFs anymore?"  
Jasmine sighed at the student's question. Inevitably, every year, she covered the topic of GFs in her class, and inevitably, every year, someone asked that same question. People were just eager for power. Lots of it. Fast.  
"The junction of Guardian Force DOES increase our power, and allows us to use abilities that we wouldn't normally be able to use. However, the junction of Guardian Force also forces us to use a portion of our mind. The part it uses, however, is a piece of our memory. Effectively, Guardian Force use wipes out our memory."  
"How do we know this?"  
"During the Second Sorceress War, Squall Leonheart and his team learned this lesson the hard way. They all have very few memories of their life before Garden, and until they stopped Junctioning, they continued to lose their memories."  
"Isn't there a way we can use a GF without losing our memory?"  
She sighed again, "A lot of research was done about this, and no conclusive, surefire plan was formed. That is why Squall implemented the GF ban on Garden. As long as you are here, you will not use a GF. The price is not worth it."  
One of the students, an obnoxious little brat who seemed to think it his personal responsibility to annoy the hell out of everyone, spoke up, "Why do we listen to that old fart anyway? His time is past! We're in a different world now!"  
Jasmine glared at him, "Thanks to Squall Leonheart, we are in a very different world. A safer world. He and his group saved the world, have you forgotten? The fall of Galbadia can be traced back to their efforts. The second fall of Galbadia can be traced back to their efforts once again. We wouldn't even exist if it weren't for them."  
Another voice interrupted, "Plus, he could whoop you pretty bad even at 54."  
Jasmine turned to the doorway where her husband, Miles, was standing.  
"Believe me kid, I know."  
The bell rang, and the class quickly filed out. Miles turned to Jasmine, "Little jackass give you trouble?"  
"Nothing I couldn't handle."  
"Obviously. Hey, I was gonna take a car and go visit Zell, you got any classes?"  
"No, that was it for today."  
"Great, you wanna come?"  
She smiled, remembering the past twenty-seven years of adventure, "Sure. Meet you there in ten minutes?"  
He grinned and gave her a kiss, "Nothing sounds better."  
  
***  
  
As promised, she arrived in ten minutes. Miles was already set to go, and she hopped into the passenger side of the Garden car. Miles put the key in the ignition, and began to turn it, and then he remembered something.  
"Oh damn, I'll be right back."  
He opened up the door and stepped out the car. Jasmine gazed at him, "Where are you going?"  
He flashed a smile, "I gotta get a gift I left in my room."  
She rolled her eyes and moved into the driver's seat, "I'll drive then!"  
He shrugged, "I'll be right back. I love you!"  
She smiled, "I know!"  
Then she turned the key in the ignition.  
Everything brightened up. Miles was shoved up against the wall by the shockwave of the blast, and he felt a few ribs break. The sound came a split second later, a deafening blast that shook the room. Miles struggled and opened his eyes, slowly turning himself around to look at Jasmine. The car was gone, totally destroyed. Tires had blown off, and shards of metal were now everywhere. It was nothing but a flaming wreck.  
He let his eyes close, and faded off into unconsciousness.  



End file.
